


Expired Chances

by awesomecookies



Series: A Gang Leader as a Professor? It's More Likely than You Think [8]
Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Attempt at Humor, College, Disabled Character, FMA references, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Hello I'm ranting again lol, Humor, M/M, Nerd Ash, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:28:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25086178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awesomecookies/pseuds/awesomecookies
Summary: Edward hated it. He hated every single second of this class.But, as some kind of opposing force, thankfully they had a classmate who never failed to talk back. An inspiration to many, he was the only one with the guts to stand up to the man.Jade Callenreese was a gutsy student and there was absolutely no doubt about that. While opinions about him was split among the class between an arrogant bastard in his high horse (mostly it was also straight white men in this) and a batshit crazy man who was too smart for his own good and was to be respected, everyone knew at least that it was no one who could say he wasn't a genius.
Relationships: Ash Lynx & Original Character(s), Ash Lynx/Okumura Eiji
Series: A Gang Leader as a Professor? It's More Likely than You Think [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1612297
Comments: 53
Kudos: 331





	Expired Chances

**Author's Note:**

> I'll edit this later cause I uploaded it with my phone lol  
> Also wow it's been a while since I updated the series agshsjsks I'm sorry  
> This has a lot of my rants. Sorry. Ash is like...my comfort character who I feel I can project to so lmao deal with it. I feel pretentious when I write him tho lol. I made this just to be able to rant about academics  
> Eiji cameos like...very shortly. I apologise.

So here's the thing, his name was Edward Erikson.

Here's another thing and people always laughed about the coincidence, he has a prosthetic arm and leg. It's not really about the leg and arm though, or the name. In fact they mostly feel bad for laughing, but the joke wasn't about either, just who it reminded them of.

Yes. He's spent his entire childhood being asked if he somehow tried to do the taboo and transmuted a human, if his mother died, if he had a brother who turned into a suit of armor, etc etc. Needless to say, he was really really confused at first. Edward Elric this, Edward Elric that. At some point in highschool, everyone called him Edward Elric and Full Metal Alchemist. 

So he gave in. He watched the entire series, both Alchemist and Brotherhood. 

And he loved it. 

So hell yeah he was Edward Elric. Hell yeah was he a badass alchemist. Hell fucking yeah. 

LPeople started to call him Full Metal instead of his actual name though. It amused Edward to no end. It stuck till highschool, and now college. (There was a point when he was called Winter Soldier too, but he’s gown attached to Full Metal. Like really attached.)

Of course he'd love to tell you that he's in the chemistry course to seal the whole Edward Elric deal, but sadly no he was an anthropology major. He supposed philosophy would've also fit, but he's just confused about it half the time. Yes yes, it's a little disappointing but here we were. 

Anyway part of his minors was a history subject, and he really wasn't going to share this life story as his life wasn't exactly that interesting in his opinion. (He could tell you about the struggles of having a handicap but he'd rather not do that least someone make it into another romanticized story of inspiration without actually helping people. Seriously what was up with that?) 

But what he was going to talk about at least at the moment was his peculiar classmate in his history class. He was that interesting only because he's the only source of entertainment and anxiety from his rather boring and irritating class. 

He had, unfortunately, lucked out on being under Dr. Anderson's class, and Dr. Anderson was an old white man with even whiter hairs. He had wire framed glasses on his nose and blue eyes that would devour you if you looked at him the wrong way. His whole body was bony, spidery limbs and even thinner fingers. He looked like Mr. Scrooge from Lewis Carol's book and he certainly talked like a Mr. Scrooge. The man was born in the fifties, raised on the ideas of the great consumerism of America and the superiority of men in the workforce, how women should just stay in the house and raise their children. He also uses slurs, doesn't mind the use of slurs in his class, but was strict about dress codes and bathroom breaks for some reason. A post war baby who had everything given to him on a silver platter by his parent and their trust fund. 

In short Mr. Anderson was a racist, a sexist, a misogynist, a bigot, and a boomer who thought the colonialism age of Europe was the golden age of the world and that Reagan was the best president that ever happened to America with Trump being the next. Perhaps we could add homophobic in his list of crimes. 

Edward hated it. He hated every single second of this class. 

But, as some kind of opposing force, thankfully they had a classmate who never failed to talk back. An inspiration to many, he was the only one with the guts to stand up to the man. 

Jade Callenreese was a gutsy student and there was absolutely no doubt about that. While opinions about him was split among the class between an arrogant bastard in his high horse (mostly it was also straight white men in this. Funny) and a batshit crazy man who was too smart for his own good and was to be respected, everyone knew at least that no one could say he wasn't a genius.

Basically it's a screaming match between them most of the time. Edward wondered how the man was not yet sent out for disrupting classes. Anderson was that petty, and yet somehow Callenreese was still in his room. Edward had long given up getting good grades in this class anyway and just wanted the credit. Anderson loved failing students, so he didn't mind the debates that happened. This way they learned more.

As of the moment, Callenreese was on a roll and Anderson was being burnt repeatedly. The blond was vicious. He's probably burning the old man more than Roy Mustang did Lust, but Edward can tell you first hand that it was just as satisfying.

“--For you to miss such important events in history, I hardly believe you earned that doctorate of yours. Go back to school. Unless if you’re feigning ignorance, then I have some issues about your academic biases. I would much rather you out yourself as a racist right now, but of course we already knew.”

“Mr. Callenreese!” Anderson spluttered out, face red from anger. He was fuming.

Jade grinned, taunting him. If he was not white, he wouldn’t be able to do this at all, Edward thought. Or disabled, or a woman, or neurodivergent, or well…any kind of minority. He’s that type of morally grey character in stories who probably murders people in his angst induced back story and got killed for a pathetic excuse of a redemption, but people don’t hate at all and fawn all over since he’s a handsome white boy. _He’s just misunderstood!_ They all cry. Edward tried not to sound too bitter about this, but nonetheless. 

Technically Jade used his position to oppose such biases which was a plus point to him, Edward could say. Really, systematic oppression would really continue if those who benefit from such a system continued to keep their silence. Don't you just love humans? Humanities and social sciences may not be as technical as natural science, but since people were so goddamn strange and illogical as much as they are interesting, the rules are almost never set. And sure physics, chemistry, maths and biology may give you anxiety, it sure did give Edward one, but the humanities just straight out gives you depression. Or highblood pressure. Or both.

You gain some, you lose some. It's the law of equivalent exchange. 

Callenreese always got almost perfect marks in their exams, almost because his essays were often underscored. He answered questions well, his research and reports extensive and he always managed to give a proper discussion no matter how much Anderson drilled him with difficult questions. He should technically be top of the class, but since Anderson was a biased bitch, Jade always barely passed. 

The fact that he was not outright failed was a feat. 

Rumors about him started to circulate, mostly from the people who hated him. How he might be blackmailing Anderson, that maybe he was part of the Mafia and threatening Anderson so that he passed his class. One of the nastiest Edward heard was that he was giving Anderson sexual favors. Disgusting.

At the very least Jade heard most of these, but he only glared at the man who said the last one, and nobody ever said that theory again. Hearing all of that, you would immediately know that they were as dumb as the people saying them. People liked making up stuff among themselves, especially to those they hate. 

If there was anything true about the things his history classmates said, it was that being in a group work with him is a death sentence. No really, if you cared about your grades, never ever ever think of partnering with him. The illusion of being able to let the smart guy do all the work might bait you, but given Anderson's prejudice against him, you will be shot in between the crossfire and if you weren't smart enough or clearly did not do any of the work, you'll become the new target just so Anderson could feel good. Also even if you did do your job, just because you were grouped with Callenreese, you will never get a high grade. Your only choice was a mediocre grade or a failing grade.

Tyrannical. 

If Anderson was an FMA character, he'd probably be Kimbley. But then again Edward like Kimbley better than this fossil. No wait, Anderson was no Kimbley. He was none other than Shou Tucker. Nobody liked that asshole. If Shou Tucker was a fossilized, balding old man, he'd be Anderson. And he was sure the old racist would not hesitate to transmute his own kid into a chimera if it helped him.

But really, the point was Jade Callenreese had a target on his back, and you were crazy and an idiot to even think of partnering with him.

So maybe he was crazy and an idiot along with three others because here they were anyway, voluntarily in the warzone.

Callenreese was staring at them with this look between confusion, disgruntlement, and absolute pity. The last one wasn't so obvious, but Edward just knew it was there. Jade went to typing in his laptop, decidedly ignoring the rest of them.

Edward decided then to survey his groupmates. Now Edward was bad with names so he made them names based on what character they reminded him of. 

First, he'll call the only other guy in the group, Ling. Mostly because he's a freeloader and wants to take it easy from what He's heard of him. He's apparently a smart and capable groupmate, but he worked on his own pace and leisure. It could be a little troublesome with deadlines.

Second there was Riza Hawkeye. She was calm, level headed, but took no shit. She doesn't really say much, but when she does it was meaningful. She doesn't talk about anything unrelated to work, but was willing to discuss theories and academic topics when intrigued. Edward had worked with her in the past. She was very reliable. Jade was probably most agreeable with her. Edward thought she was the type to steer clear from anything that could get her grades down, apparently he was wrong since she volunteered to be in this group. 

Lastly there was Alphonse. Yes she's a woman, and yes he's calling her Alphonse because she was big and absolutely ripped but she was so soft spoken, so kind. The way she talked was so gentle. It was almost like talking to a hunk of armor with the kindness of a kid. She could also definitely crush you if she wanted to which was...well, intimidating. He didn't know much about her, but she seemed agreeable enough. So maybe they won't have a problem in finishing this.

Jade still did not look up. He did not talk to anyone, or ask anyone's contact details. Riza cleared her throat. "I think we should start with a short introduction. I'm Elise. Political Science major." 

Alphonse piped up next. "Brittany. Nice to meet all of you. I major in library and information science."

"Dude, you're a librarian? What did you get so jacked for?" Ling snorted. Thankfully Alphonse--err Brittany just laughed. 

"I used to do a lot of sports." She beamed. 

Ling whistled. "Alright, I'm Trevor. I major in fine arts." 

"You can draw?" Brittany's eyes sparkled. 

"Anyone can draw. I'm just masochistic enough to pursue it as a profession." He grinned. Then he nodded at Edward. "What about you?"

"My name is Edward." He introduced. "My friends call me Metal. I major in anthropology and no, please do not stick fridge magnets on my arm and leg, otherwise we're good."

"Metal is ummm..." Riza--no Elise trailed away from what she was gonna say.

"It's okay. I like it." Edward assured.

"Edward as in like Edward Elric?" Trevor? Yeah his name was Trevor, looked amused. Edward needed to work on his name remembering skills. "Like full metal alchemist?" 

"That's where the nickname came from." Edward chuckled. 

"Awesome." 

"Let's maybe focus on the subject." Elise gave a pointed look. She then turned to Jade. "It's your turn to introduce."

Callenreese didn't bother looking up. "You all know me. Anderson hates me. I think that's all you need to know." 

Wow. So much for warm introductions. 

"Teamwork starts with building proper rapport. I think you could at least cooperate in this stage." Elise insisted. Jade finally looked up at this and gave her a one brow raised. So Jade was not the most agreeable with her. Damn. 

Finally, he sighedike he decided it simply wasn't worth it. "Call me Jade. Literature and Biochem. I double major. I'll do most of the work. You just need to study the material and try not to say or do anything that would lead Anderson to prey on you. I'll get it to you next week."

"With all due respect Jade, we aren't as useless as you think." Elise interrupted. "You should trust in your groupmates more."

"Yeah no, it's pretty moot at this point considering the whole thing is rigged. Better I'll do all of it then blame me for hoarding the jobs and compromising the quality, than blame me for standing up against that bigot and getting myself, including you, fucked." Jade took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "I frankly don't get why you all decided to be with me."

"For starters, it's not for the grades." Elise said. "Otherwise I'd go to the teacher's pet. Unfortunately I cannot stand misogynistic bigots, so no. I'd rather stand up against Mr. Anderson with you despite the obviously underscored grades."

"Doctor." Trevor snickered. "He's very sensitive about not being addressed as doctor." He rolled his eyes.

"He doesn't deserve that doctorate." Edward gritted his teeth. 

"He's a really horrible person." Brittany spoke up. "How could such an old man contain such hate?"

"White supremacy." Elise said. "And a history of privilege."

"Boomer energy." Trevor made a face.

"Definitely boomer energy." Edward sighed. 

"Regardless," Elise continued. "We can be useful if you let us. So please let us cooperate together to finish this project.

Jade sighed after a long pause in contemplation. "Ugh fine. I'll send you tasks. Just get it done and send it to my email." Then a murmur mostly to himself. "He's been telling me to actually work with my classmates anyway. Goddamnit." He wrote his email in a scrap of paper. "Send me your emails later. I have a lunch meeting with someone." He slid the paper on the table and packed his things. He gave Anderson a glare, the other returned the treatment, before Jade left the room.

They were left on the table.

Brittany piped up. "Well isn't he an odd one?" 

* * *

It wasn't two days since they sent their emails when they received their assignments, together with...basically the 75% of the work already done. It was both impressive, frightening and a little frustrating. He'd really appreciate it if Jade would trust them more. 

Besides, working on the project would actually be easier to defend it. It meant you actually knew what you were doing. Callenreese didn't seem to think that though. 

Edward admitted that he was not the smartest out there, but he refused to believe he couldn't help out at some point. He's gone through a lot of terrible group mates to know how shitty it was to work on your own. Sure, Jade thought he was protecting them, but Edward felt like he was also a job hoarder from all the disappointing group mates he's been through.

Unless of course if he was a job hoarder by default. Was that stemmed from his high standards and overachieving personality? Or was he born without anyone to rely on and had to do everything himself? 

The last one was kinda sad. But some of his group mates took no shit from him.

"Jade, I think we could revise some of the sources here. I found better and more accurate and updated data than these." 

Surprisingly, it was not Elise who contradicted Jade, but Brittany in the next meeting the one who spoke up. She had a tablet filled with PDFs and browser tabs open which he slid towards Jade.

Jade looked up and read through the collection of data Brittany handed over. He had this contemplative look, and then started to highlight a couple of things on the tablet, skimming over them with the speed nobody should be as fast when reading academic text. By ten minutes he handed it back to Brittany.

"Let's do that. Send the revised copies of what I highlighted. Where did you get your resources?" Jade murmured, ready to start the next batch of work. What a workaholic.

"I'm a library and information science student, Jade." Brittany grinned. "Information is my thing. Leave the research and the referencing to me." 

Edward thought Jade was going to refuse her once again, but he looked between his phone and his laptop screen, there was conflict there. You kind of just start wondering what he could possibly be thinking.

"Alright. Please do so." 

Edward might even go out to say he's warmed up to them. The thing was, Jade felt a lot like Edward Elric. He had this brash exterior, this subtle air of superiority he maintained. You sort of think he was a piece of shit actually. But he was brilliant, arrogant, but brilliant. And yet he had this slight sobriety that Edward could not explain. He had this indescribable thing like anger, sadness, and anxiety from his past swirling inside him when you looked deep in him for it. He's determined about something no one knew about, like someone carrying a burden so heavy for one man.

But maybe Edward was a little inaccurate with his reading. He wasn't the best at determining people. It's just that Jade seriously reminded him of the protagonist of his favorite show, a feeling he hadn't felt before. Save maybe the noisy part. Jade kept mostly to himself.

Maybe he was just talking crazy.

Anyway Brittany's suggestions led to other people suggesting more to Jade, and Jade while confused, accepted them either way. Yes, even Trevor did his work. He was oddly inspired it would seem. 

They were able to finish the project a week before they had to submit. It felt oddly satisfying. 

In the end they got a barely passing score. Jade somehow got just a few points higher than theirs, but only a few.

"I know Callenreese did most of the work. It was shit by the way. There's a lot of errors. Typical of his work, all arrogance and no actual proofs. He could do better." Anderson sniffed when they demanded to know why their grades was like that. Jade was silent in the corner, arms crossed and a glare on his face. He knew this would happen. 

"We did our part. We have proof and if you ask us about the report, we'll be able to answer it without problem." Elise sounded like she was trying very hard to stay civilized. They had expected this, but hell, they weren't gonna back down that easily.

"Oh sure. Callenreese briefed you about it I'm sure. I'll not waste time on what is obviously you cheating. Good day." Anderson huffed.

"They actually did their part old man." Jade rolled his eyes. "You could at least give them a grade higher than mine."

"Not even in a million years Callenreese. If you don't like how I handle things gentlemen, I suggest you drop my class. My standards are too high for your skill set." And with that Anderson walked away.

Trevor broke the silence. "Not cool man."

"Wow what an asshole." Edward grumbled.

"How is he not yet fired? There's a lot of previous complaints about him in the past." Brittany glared.

"It's that doctorate." Elise sighed. "And this institution is racist, it favors whites."

"Yeah can't do anything about it now." Jade rubbed his temples. He always look tired, posture slumped. "I suggest you don't partner with me the next time around so it doesn't happen again to you."

"No offense dude, but you're stuck with me now." Trevor grinned at him. "I never cared about grades anyway. Might as well get through this class while shitting on Anderson." 

"I agree." Elise added. "Someone has to stand up to Anderson." She nodded. 

Trevor laughed. "I thought you would be the type to be focused on your grades." 

"I despise injustice." Elise said in deadpan. 

"I don't like conflicts," Brittany said. "But you have my support." 

"Let's do this guys." Edward chuckled. "Let's get this thing down."

Jade had this bewildered expression. The type that looked at them as if they were crazy or just plain reckless, perhaps both. Perhaps what Jade did not realize was that people in the humanities and social sciences were absolutely down to throwing hands anytime. They're so ready to fight. And sure, they weren't all in the humanities but hey, it's all about the mindset.

"All of you are mad." Jade shook his head.

"We won't let you get all the action." Edward rubbed his hands. "Let's make Anderson's class inconvenient."

"This is a bad idea. You don't need to do this." Jade continued.

"Trust me, we really do." Elise's expression shifted to a soft smile. "We want to."

"I'm all for causing trouble." Trevor cackled, vibrating with excitement. Brittany nodded along.

Jade looked absolutely lost.

* * *

So now they found themselves often grouped together as much as possible when they can help it. Somehow they coaxed Jade to work with them. Somehow working together didn't stop at group activities and homework, occasionally the four of them would come to Jade's defense when Anderson starts shitting on him once again. They'll back Jade's argument with their own point of views. It's a screaming match every period. 

Over everything, Edward wasn't so shocked to see that their little group ended up with a study session together. Yes, even Jade ended up participating. He also looked confused to why he was there as well.

All Edward could remember was that Jade would often end up on his phone, arguing with someone on the other side in a smatter of different languages. He looked defeated and then he'll sit back into his seat. 

It became routine though. They would meet for an hour or two, reviewing notes, helping each other out on things they weren't so good at. Edward would like to think they were somewhat close to being friends, enough to start having debates on certain subjects. 

"Once again, let me say this, art purity is bullshit. They did this with Boticcelli before and that's because he painted nudes." Trevor rubbed his face with his palm. He was majoring fine arts. He would be adamant about this topic.

They were in a coffee shop and arguments like these were already common. Jade continued to type in his laptop, not caring about them at all, Elise was listening occasionally but was mostly busy writing a report for a different class, which leads to Brittany and Trevor arguing, while he listened to them, half writing homework.

"Okay but there's a difference with nudes and like....incest and pedophilia." Brittany pointed out. "Plus kids are exposed to violence and sexual themes at such an early age."

"So maybe kids aren't supposed to be in the internet at, I don't know, such a young age? Or maybe the parents should actually watch what their kids watch. Isn't that supposed to be what those warnings are at the beginning?" Trevor complained. "Imagine being underage, going in a strip club and saying 'oh god there are children here!' when it's an adult space."

"Maybe they should have hired tougher security? The establishment is partially responsible." 

"Do not underestimate how old kids look and how they're willing to get fake ID's which is technically on them. They knew what they were getting into." Trevor's eyes rolled. 

"Okay but triggers? Some adults have things they personally don't wanna see in books and arts. What about them?" 

"That's what tags are for." Edward couldn't help but join. "Ao3 has good tags. Isn't that technically the reader's choice and responsibility to read them and be warned?"

"Ao3?" Elise broke her concentration to ask.

"Not important." Edward waved off. Oh sweet summer child.

"Surely artists must be held accountable for what they make? Media affects people right? Media can strengthen prejudices and stereotypes. Like that Jaws and bugs bu--"

"Someone cited Jaws as bullshit." Elise somehow cut in, focus already gone. "Shark finning was already a major cause of death in their population because of Capitalism and some rich bastard's craving for soup way before the movie was on. Saying it's because of a movie seems to undermine the truth which let's major corporations hide behind and lets them get away. If you think for one second these people make soup because of Jaws and their anger for sharks then that's just bullshit."

"Yeah I guess--and people were too careless about the bugs bunny thing. They should at least have the common sense to research what bunnies eat. Seriously." Brittany admitted. "To be fair, they don't have internet before and information is a sparse. Really why didn't the teachers double checked the fact before teaching it to the children. 

Brittany was very concerned about information accuracy and distribution. Edward supposed this was her pet peeves, fake news and false information. It got in the way of her job.

"People are gullible....or...well...would take in whatever info given to them so long as it served their agendas but deny anything that doesn't align to it." Edward nodded. "I think the viewers are also kinda responsible in processing what they watch as much as the writer's are responsible in tagging their works properly? I mean seriously, if you watch a movie about shooting people and your first thoughts are...well.... shooting people, I think we have a bigger problem than the movie, buddy."

"Ultimately some shows does reflect the creator's biases. But say, Stephen King doesn't actually tell you to dress as a clown and start scaring people right? That's kinda....that's your decision in the end, dude." Trevor laughed. "I mean dude, art and fiction is a good way to experience things that are taboo or dangerous. I think the author or the artist knows that depicting a life threatening situation meant they don't actually want to be in one, or an affair might be interesting but isn't something you want to do, much like how you watch horror, drama and love stories even though you know you don't want to be involved. It's pretty cathartic."

Trevor would be against art censorship being in the fine arts department. There was an entire philosophy about it, a philosophy of aesthetics that he had often brought up in the past. This was nothing new.

"Sure," Brittany continued. "But it can also be a spread of misinformation." Ah yes. Pet peeve. "Art in a way does affect life even if indirectly."

"Dude, I respectfully disagree." Trevor nodded.

"Well, as Garfield said, you're not immune to propaganda." Edward laughed.

"Thank you." Brittany waved her hand in gesticulation. "It does indirectly. It's why tvs have ratings to begin with. Media also helps propaganda. You know?" She emphasized. "You can't control all the viewers. The next thing you know someone would love a franchise too much and won't research on the topic, and the next thing you know they're romanticizing... white men and their autocracies."

"Just say Hamilton and go." Edward laughed. As an anthropologist and someone who also liked history before he met Anderson, he might have a little beef with it. 

"Hamilton is bullshit." Jade finally said something, and it had to be about Hamilton when he had all the time to give his two cents. "All that romanticism of white men who made this shit fuckery of a country. I'd rather not touch that.”

Elise sighed. "LMM also has a couple of problematic political views but yes." 

"You mean the fandom is shit....the rabid ones. They're talking about real people and real historical moments. It seems insensitive, especially with how they think Hamilton wasn’t actually a prick who cheated on his wife, and Jefferson being a very known slave owner...they were all slave owners actually." Edward pointed out. See? He had historical beef. "And all the cursed stuff I've seen."

"The song were pretty good though, you have to admit. And the cast were POC. We should make more POC centric stories with POC casts." Trevor explained his opinion. "Although singing about white slave owners using rap seems the most time deaf thing I've seen, with rap being mostly....you know...a black invention" 

They fell silent.

"For all it's worth, don't you just love how Jefferson's name in pop culture would always be associated with his Miku binder? Imagine shitting on someone's legacy like that." Edward added.

Jade snorted. "I hope he turns in his grave and burns in whatever rotting hell he's placed in." 

The rest laughed. 

"Dude, I think people are too focused on the responsibility of the artists and their production of art to realize that the consumers need to treat it with a grain of salt. You shouldn’t worship anything from the media and art, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy them. Take it from me. I'll do arts for a living." Trevor continued. “And kids are on the internet in these adult themed things where they don’t actually process stuff properly yet, not that they can’t but some things just need the perspective of an older and experienced person.”

“Art has always been reflective of society. Art by default is mimetic, so is books and television shows. What happens in stories are taken inspiration from real life events and possibilities, one way or another.” Jade had stopped typing completely and had been fully invested into the topic. “Mimesis still creates a work of art removed from reality, but that gap is a good thing because the audience responds best to a combination of recognition and distance, therefore we see these things similar to our lives, but we view it in the safety of reality. It is because of this gap that we might feel empathy and catharsis when watching a drama.” He was rambling now. He was a literature major so this was something he’s probably keen on. “When you see life imitating media, it’s actually already prevalent and existing within you as art only ever reflects society.”

“Like the Simpsons.” Edward laughed.

“Exactly like the Simpsons.” Jade snickered. “I’m sure they didn’t watch Trump become president on a cartoon and decided, wow we should make him president. That’s just plain dumb.”

“You underestimate how dumb people are, especially in politics.” Elise deadpanned.

“Well that’s on them.” Jade huffed. “Also it kinda drives the satire of Simpsons home. Maybe the problem isn’t actually the art, but the socio-cultural implications of what we live in today. The fact that people believe in what they see without even researching, that they take musicals as fact when it's obviously given artistic liberties, is telling you that something is wrong with people's critical thinking."

"Then it'll be called propaganda and history revisionism, which at some degree is true." Elise nodded. "But you have to admit it's a little messed up. And while everything should be taken with a grain of salt, it feels wrong to like something that's praising something you are against about. But then people would just demand things to be taken down and cancelled rather than deal with that disturbing feeling and process what that actually implies deep down."

"Purity culture in art heavily parallel’s Christianity’s ‘evil thoughts equates evil actions’ like ‘morally grey art and fiction equates to evil deeds’. Dark themes can show depth on stories, it’s a good catharsis to others, and to some people who experienced in those aforementioned stories in their lives, might even think of it as therapeutic although some don't. It's a case to case basis. Media is a tool to propagate ideas, that’s one thing for sure and once again people who work in it have a big responsibility on using it wisely, but you can’t keep blaming it for all behavioral problems of society and think that purging it would solve, what is actually, a deeper problem.” Jade replied. This was the most he's talked that wasn't related to their work. It wasn't a surprise to see everyone listening to him intently.

"Miranda is shitty and should have been more responsible in his actions, but you can't keep blaming him solely for it. That said, continuing to give him support might also mean giving him power. It's honestly still confusing and should be worked out. But art should be neutral. It's all about interpretation and is defined by human reaction. I suppose instead of cancelling things outright, people should take the art and discuss it's social, cultural, and political background, awknowledgeing this mistake, so we wouldn't do the same once again in the future."

Everyone fell silent. Jade finished rambling and everyone looked at each other's expression.

“Wow.” Brittany giggled. “Point taken, but I’ve never seen you so fired up before Jade.”

“He does keep silent most of the time.” Elise chuckled.

“It’s my major. I have opinions.” Jade defended, not entirely smiling. The frown was back in his face. “And all of you were too noisy, I can’t get my work done.”

“Okay but does the writing and watching your trauma thing actually work?” Edward asked out of genuine curiosity. “It sounds unhealthy.”

Jade’s expression changed into something eerily between a smirk and a bristle, eyes shining like he knew something none of them did, but also bitter. He said “Oh on the contrary, you’ll be surprised.”

What did that mean? Edward felt like it was the tip of the iceberg of something lurking deep down, a can of worms that would spring out when opened, except maybe there were literal worms in the metaphorical can. It made him uneasy.

Just them, Jade’s phone rang and that jolted them all back into the present. Edward tried to peek at the caller’s name but Jade had snatched it before he could see anything.

“Hello?” Jade’s face immediately…softened. “What?!” Okay now he looked mildly shocked. He was midway standing up when he hurriedly stared at his watch. “Sorry I didn’t realize the time. I should go. No no. They don’t mind I’m sure. See you later. Bye.” He immediately scrambled to shove his things into his bag. He directed at them. “Send your work in my email. I expect it to be done before midnight. I’m busy over the weekend.”

“Or I can compile it so your workload lessens.” Elise offered.

Jade’s face was conflicted. “Fine. Send it to her, then I’ll recheck it. I need to go. Bye.”

And with that he left as often did. 

* * *

If there was any time Edward wanted to kill Anderson, it was that specific moment.

"None of you gets to sit on the one on one oral recitation we will be doing. I'll question each one of you individually to see if you actually understood your reports." He gave a meaningful glare at Jade. "But all of you waiting outside should keep standing, otherwise I'll mark you absent for not doing your work. Sitting promotes laziness and being idle."

That's absolutely unfair wasn't it? It was good to know that Anderson also had ableism in his list of sins. How comforting. 

But as it happened, there were no chairs at all outside the classroom, and they were all relegated to standing up, or sitting on the floor. Not that it was already difficult for Edward and his arm and leg. 

It was already painful most of the time, even in Full Metal Alchemist, Edward Elric's automail was often damaged, often broken. It had to be fixed and maintained all the time, especially when he was at the desert where the metal can burn him, or in the north where it could give him frostbite.

The only thing about it that was useful other than it's replacement's functions was for fighting and even that only worked because he was an alchemist. If anything, automail was pretty shitty.

Edward absolutely felt that. What he wouldn't do to not have that hunk of metal and plastic on his arm and leg. He hissed in pain as he leaned on the wall. He wasn't going to lie. It felt like he was working on retail with the whole not sitting part. Why was America so ableist?

"I got you a chair. You must be in pain." Jade suddenly stood next to him. 

"Dude I appreciated it, but Anderson will see and we're gonna get in trouble." Nevermind where he got the chair. It didn't look like it belonged in the room.

"Not if he doesn't know." Jade insisted. "It's a blind spot. I'll cover you. And if he comes out, I'll tell you." His expression was serious as ever. You hardly dredge emotions other than arrogance, grumpiness, and displeasure out of him most of the time, but he was actually pretty fine. 

In the end exhaustion won out and Edward did sit on the stool. "Thanks man. Not a lot cares about disabled people." He groaned. 

"A friend of mine spent some time in a wheelchair and crutches on separate times. He said it was awfully inconvenient for him because the whole place isn't built to be PWD friendly. I just don't want anyone going in that." Jade crossed his arms.

"Is that so?" Edward sighed. "That's really nice of you." He wondered if it was the same friend who kept calling him. Their identity wasn't mentioned yet, but it got most of them interested if they were being honest. 

Come to think of it, Jade often opened the doors for him, occasionally he would assist him in carrying some stuff, but he always asks beforehand. He also let's him go ahead first when they walk. It was actually polite of him.

"I don't actually know what they say about you, and I don't care because you're actually one of the kindest people I've met, Jade." 

Jade's reaction was peculiar, in the sense that he tightened his jaw and looked like he just ate something sour. Trevor called it his socially constipated face, which he was often wearing actually. His expression was always deadpan, if not angry, or perhaps spaced out. Talking to Anderson, he has a cocky attitude and it may rub some in the wrong way. But they've long realized that this was not his default. 

"You don't actually know what you're talking about." He scoffed, suddenly closing in himself as if he wanted to be smaller. 

"Well I'm not going to force you. I just want you to know." Edward grinned. "You're kind Jade. You have a strong sense of justice and morality. You help people, you care. I think that's good enough."

Jade blinked and then cleared his throat. What kind of life could he possibly have gone through to feel like that? To think he was a terrible person? Edward wanted to know and also dreaded the answer.

"Thank you. You're one of the few people who said that to me." He sighed. It looked like a massive weight was taken out of his chest.

* * *

The end of the semester was approaching and they were going to work together for the last time. And now they were stuck in a twenty four hour office/study space, (which Jade paid for wow) typing away to get this shit done. Anderson had to be an inconsiderate prick and wanted the deadline this Monday after giving it this Saturday. 

Needless to say, they were all pissed. 

"I had to cancel a lot of plans over the weekend because of this." Brittany mourned. "I was going to visit my parents."

"I was gonna meet up with my girlfriend dudes." Trevor sighed. "Guess like I have to move my reservation next week."

"I don't really have plans but this sucks." Edward grumbled. He was looking forward to sleeping in and maybe play videogames the entire day, maybe watch anime. He just wanted time to spend for himself.

"I was gonna attend a funeral." Elise added. All of them looked at her with shock and sympathy. "Don't look at me like that. It's a distant relative. I don't even like him. He's a bigot, a boot licker, and a Trump supporter. I think I like doing this more than force myself to cry and act good with his relatives."

"Ah." Edward didn't know what to say to that. "Uhh how about you Jade? Plans for the weekend?" 

Jade looked up and was obviously displeased. "I have." He took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I was going somewhere tonight." He added after a pause. "With a friend. Now I have to tell him we need to cancel." He stared at his phone with disdain, right after tossing it on the table when he sent a text. 

"Ooh. On a date?" Trevor wiggled his eyebrows.

"Jade seems to be the type to get dates often." Brittany giggled. 

"That's not really your concern, is it?" Jade snapped. 

"Woah chill. You don't need to tell us if it bothers you." Trevor waved his hand. "We understand. You're a private person."

There were certain topics he didn't like to talk about at all. Like his personal details, his past, and most especially about his friend, Edward observed. It's a touchy subject. He always looked tense, always susceptible to different sounds, head always snapping to loud crashes. There was also that one time when he offhandedly mentioned about knowing they were approaching by the sound of their footsteps. Seriously, that level of anxiety seemed off the charts. It really make you wonder how he lived his life before. 

"Edward can you cite your sources on this statement i highlighted? It's too vague. Also your in text citation is a mess." Elise sent him an email.

"Sorry. I confuse APA and MLA. Fucking hell." Edward grumbled. He hated the citations part.

"Tell me about it. I have literature and biochem. It's different citation formats for both." Jade snorted. 

"I can do the citation." Brittany offered. "Just send the article to me. Don't worry, this is my major."

"Citation machine is a thing too." Trevor pointed out.

"Fuck that shit." Brittany huffed. "Its inaccurate sometimes."

"You think they'll read it? This is like... homework. They'll skim over it and throw it in the trash after giving us shit scores." Trevor rolled his eyes.

"Anderson definitely would though because he hates us." Elise tutted.

"I hate it here." Edward grumbled.

"I'd rather do my art plates." Trevor ran a hand through his face.

Once again, Jade's ringtone startled all of them. They were familiar with the monotone beeping of the device. It buzzed among the mess of papers on their table and Edward managed to glimpse a picture of a boy on the screen just before Jade snatched it away. 

"Yes? What's the matter?" Jade stood up. "Wait what? You're here?!" He stared dead ahead and saw a man in a coat and scarf approach them. That got all of their attention. 

"Hi!" The black haired man waved. Edward assumed this was his friend. "I brought you dinner since you said you're going to be home late and I don't want it to go to waste. I also made extra cookies for all of you guys to share." 

Jade spluttered. "Oh my god." He stood up and pushed him away for a while where they talked in private. Of course, they were curious and wanted to hear what they were talking about, so they peeked at them.

"...sorry. I wanted to see you. I admit it's an excuse..."

"...not that I mind. It's just...."

"--not busy. I'm glad you're making friends."

"...I don't really need anyone else--"

They can't hear them properly and had only gotten snippets of their conversation. Plus all that craning was painful. All they could make out was Jade's blond hair and the man's smiling expression. The man pinched Jade's cheek--holy shit. What kind of superpower??

The man's dark eyes caught sight of them though, the four of them jumped back in shock. He laughed and then whispered something to Jade. Jade snapped to their direction with a glare.

"It's one thing for me to know you're there, but you are all shit at hiding, even he could see you. Come on." Jade barked. With that all of them stepped forward guiltily.

"I guess there's no helping it." The man giggled. "Hi I'm Eiji. I'm Ash's..." He glanced at Jade's eyes before continuing. "...roommate. Nice to meet you." He bowed down.

That suspicious side glance told them he was definitely not just a roommate. 

"Ash?" Brittany asked.

"My other name. You don't get to call me that. Only him." Jade glared. So they have exclusive nicknames too. Definitely more than roommates.

"He has a thing about separating school and home, but all he does at home is school work." Eiji snickered. "Don't mind him." He smirked at Ash. "Although I do recall you saying you don't want to use Jade as your name."

"Eiji." Jade murmured, a little embarrassed.

"Won't you introduce them to me?" Eiji laughed. 

Jade sighed. "I think they can handle doing that themselves." 

"Elise. Pleasure to meet you." She extended her hand for a handshake. 

"Trevor." He was content with a simple wave.

"Brittany." She also took his hand for a handshake.

"Uhh Edward." This time Eiji took his hand. He obviously marvelled at the metal thing but didn't say anything out of politeness.

"Yeah I know. I look like Edward Elric. It's kinda badass isn't it?" He humored to break the ice.

"It is!" Eiji nodded enthusiastically. "Ash and I enjoyed watching it! I didn't expect him to get so invested."

"Eiji, I think it's time for you to leave. We're a little busy." His face was so red already. Jade was so cute actually in this state. He looked like a kid.

"Oh alright." He pouted. "Anyway. I'm glad you at least managed to befriend him, even if he denies it. He's actually really kind and cute deep down. Don't get intimidated." Eiji continued with a laugh.

"Eiji..." This time repeated between gritted teeth.

"Alright I know. I know. I'm teasing you already." Eiji chuckled. "Make sure to eat dinner. I think I did the bento well tonight." 

"Don't worry I will." Jade sighed. 

"Alright. Gotta go. Love you." He pressed a kiss on Jade's cheek, who also pressed a chaste and soft peck on Eiji's before he left. Jade was burning in the face, a deep breath released from his lips. Eiji waved before running off. Jade continued to stare at his retreating figure, a little...well there really was no other word for it, smitten. A small quirk of his lips was present.

They gave him knowing looks. To which he responded with a frown.

"What are you looking at me for? Let's get back to work!" He marched off with a huff.

They decided to let him off the hook and not tease him. Although you'll be glad to know that his lunchbox had kitten patterns on it, and that his rice balls were shaped like cats as well. They couldn't help but swoon at it though, and Jade threatened murder.

* * *

Time passed and now they were ready to defend their report. Panelists were lined up on the table to criticize them. So panel reports weren't supposed to scare you. The secret, Edward realized, was that you should think that the panellists were there to help you. Edward also realized tha advice was for research proposals and this panel was bound to kill them.

Anderson was sitting in the middle, that fossil. Perhaps he became a historian simply due to the fact that he must have been there when dinasours roamed the earth. He's the living proof the Cambrian explosion. 

Anyway. 

They were drilled mercilessly over their topic, and somehow Jade managed to throw a counter offensive everytime. Now Anderson banned him from talking and targeted everyone else.

That's the funny part of course. All of them knew this report by heart. Not that Anderson banning Jade to talk stopped him.

"--this theory therefore supports our claims to answer your question." Jade summed up.

"That's preposterous. Who wrote that?!" Anderson flipped through their stack of papers.

"Funny you should ask that," Elise piped up. "You did, sir. It's based on your doctorate dissertation." 

Trevor smiled. "Please refer to the bibliography section. We managed to access your paper from the library. It's actually a lovely read."

Anderson spluttered. His face turned red. "I don't believe you--"

"It's all over the paper. I would know, I cited all of them properly." Brittany cut in. The rest of the panel scanned the paper with a thoughtful hum.

"It checks out." One of them said.

"Do you have any other questions sir?" Edward suppressed a giggle. That look of shock on his face was priceless. Anderson looked close to fainting. 

"We'll be taking our leave then." Jade smirked. "Thank you, and have a good day." 

* * *

"Wow, I can't believe his reaction! Have you seen it? Priceless!" Trevor cackled. They were sitting on a cafe, drinking coffee to celebrate the end of that shit show of a report. 

"It's not gonna be a high grade though. Anderson will pull us down in any way he could." Elise said, often the skeptic. She had a point though.

"Ahh well it's done. We had our fun at least." Edward sipped from his cappuccino. "I'm starting to think Anderson is that old to have forgotten his own writing."

"Kind of a hypocrite of him though. I felt like he didn't even author that report." Brittany rested her chin on her hand. "Being white and straight probably really gives you enough privilege. I feel like he wasn't drilled enough when he had his dissertation defense."

"The fact that I have to straighten my hair to be taken seriously in these things is pretty telling how racist they are." Elise grumbled. "I really hope he's sacked at some point."

"A little difficult. I think some had already filed a petition against him for cases of racism and you know all the other things, including sexual harassment." Trevor shared. "Some friend of mine was also under him."

"Jesus Christ." Elise rolled her eyes. "As I was saying. Racist institutions protect their own. This school is rotten to the core." 

Jade huffed. "Well," He was the only one typing away still in his laptop. "If we can't get him out by those allegations, maybe ruining his achievements would do it." He grinned wickedly. "After all, that way the school would have no use for him."

"Yeah, as if we can do that." Edward laughed. "It would be nice though."

Jade chuckled. "Absolutely."

Of course Edward paid it no mind. Finals came and went, their grades were not worth their efforts at all. But their expectations were already low anyway, so at this point all they can do is grumble about it. The semester break was coming and they were all ready to go to a holiday. The important part was that they passed. 

Although another strange phenomenon happened just before classes officially ended. 

While he was in his dorm, rewatching yet again Fullmetal Alchemist, a message pinged at his phone.

"The fuck?!" He exclaimed. Apparently the school was firing Anderson because of plagiarism issues. His dissertation was apparently ghost written and all evidences came out in the light after nearly forty years. 

"Holy shit." He breathed as he took in the information. All of it was there. So plagiarism was a big no no in the academic field...or...well.... anywhere. Plus Edward remembered that Anderson's dissertation did not list any other author. He would know, he was the one who found it. They didn't want to use it out of distaste, but Jade convinced them otherwise. 

Well that only meant he certainly would be kicked out of the university and his resume will be stained by that, not to mention his credibility was ruined. Chances were all his published articles would be scrutinized. His career was down the drain.

In short he was fucked.

And Edward was absolutely happy to know.

But the question was, who made it happen? How did they do it? What?

Perhaps they shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. But regardless, he was thankful.

* * *

"...you seriously caused a ruckus." Eiji tutted to Ash while reading the news of what he did.

"Eh. He deserves it. Can't stand the old man. I'm sure he'll look at you and start calling you names. Probably blame you for the bombing of Pearl Harbor too. He's that racist." Ash rolled his eyes while he sipped his coffee.

"Japan admittedly has a lot of war crimes it has yet to apologize though." Eiji pointed out. 

Ash gave a half-hearted shrug. "Either way, I promised him I'll bring him down after I gave him enough chances to atone. His chances are now expired." He set his cup on the table. "They would not terminate him for all his terrible deeds. Racism, misogyny, maybe even pedophilia and sexual assault. It's disgusting. This country's education system is a cancer." Ash grumbled. "It was the only way."

"Well maybe you'll do better as a teacher." Eiji joked. "I bet you're loads better than him."

"Everyone is way better than him. He's a piece of shit." Ash snickered. "But that doesn't sound like a bad idea."

"Mhmm. Does that mean I'll be calling you professor in the future?" 

"Professor Callenreese?" Ash laughed. "I guess it doesn't sound too bad."

**Author's Note:**

> Lmao yeah I'll edit this
> 
> Alright! Do you see all the research rants? Yeah that's me. Some might be exaggerated. Lmao. I hate citations. 
> 
> This is also in honor of Hamilton on d*sney + lmao. Enjoy the music but also awknowledge it's problem lol
> 
> Ash definitely wrote his trauma away but we'll deal with that later.
> 
> Lmao Eiji barging in like that lol
> 
> Also I'm sorry. Ash being a nerd is my favorite song. Lol pushing the Social science agenda


End file.
